Systems and methods for providing advertisements in a fantasy sports contest application

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are presented for presenting advertisements to users of a fantasy sports contest application. Advertisements are displayed in conjunction with fantasy sports contest information and may be interactive in nature. The advertisements may be used to inform the user of prizes being awarded for performance in the fantasy sports contest, including prizes being awarded for performing in an instant scoring opportunity based on real-time action in a related sports broadcast. The advertisements may be intelligently scheduled around certain events in a related sports broadcast to take advantage of user purchasing habits. The advertisements may foe selected according to a user profile. The user profile may include information on the user&#39;s demonstrated interests, which may be determined using the user&#39;s preferences in the fantasy contest, prior television viewing habits, and other suitable information. The advertisements may be targeted to the user&#39;s specific geographic location. The advertisements may also be used to inform a user of an awarded prize, and to enable the user to claim the awarded prize.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.60/329,587, filed Oct. 15, 2001, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to systems and methods for providing a fantasysports contest application, and more particularly, this inventionrelates to systems and methods for providing advertisements in a fantasysports contest application.

Athletic endeavors have long supported a broad range of secondarycompetitions which include wagering on the outcome of particular gamesand wagering on the performance of a particular player.

In known fantasy sports contests, the user selects a roster, a team, aparticular individual, or a group of individuals in an athletic contest.The user of a fantasy sports contest system is given the ability to takeon the role of a fictional general manager with powers which may includethe ability to draft, trade, dismiss and otherwise manage the player orplayers on the user's fantasy sports team.

Conventionally, the rules in a fantasy sports contest are set by afantasy sports contest system provider, or are set by a leaguecommissioner who sets the rules under which a group of fantasy orrotisserie sports game users competes against each other. For example,for every goal scored in real-life by a member of the user's fantasysoccer team, a conventional fantasy sports contest system might awardfive points to the user in the fantasy competition.

A provider of a conventional fantasy sports contest system may alsoprovide additional services, which include providing statisticalinformation on real-life games and players, tracking users' scores inthe fantasy contest, and enabling transactions and other interactionsamong the users.

A fantasy sports contest may be based on a variety of real-life athleticevents, and typically involves participants selecting players fromreal-life team sports (e.g., football, baseball, basketball, hockey,soccer or rugby), selecting players from real-life sports whereindividuals compete (e.g., golf, tennis or automotive racing), orselecting competitors from competitions involving animals (e.g., horseand dog racing). The user's selections are typically stored in theuser's fantasy sports contest roster. The performance of theseselections in real-life competition determines the user's performance inthe fantasy sports competition.

One of the benefits of fantasy sports contests is that they provide apotentially lucrative venue for advertising, especially when implementedusing an interactive application to provide the ability to be part of afantasy sports contest via a distal medium. Presently, interactiveapplications accessible via the Internet using the World Wide Web areused to implement fantasy sports contests and may display advertisementsto the user along with the featured content. These advertisements can beinteractive in nature, and can enable the user to obtain furtherinformation on a product or service, or enable the user to purchase theproduct or service.

However, present fantasy sports contest applications do not take fulladvantage of the information provided by the user in the process ofparticipating in the fantasy sports contest to target advertisementstoward particular users or user groups, nor do they incorporateadvertisements into the fantasy sports contest to attract user attentionto displayed advertisements. Further, present fantasy sports contestapplications do not utilize television sports broadcasts associated withthe fantasy sports contest to increase user interest in advertisements.It would therefore be desirable to provide improved ways in which topresent advertisements in conjunction with a fantasy sports contest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide improved ways in which to present advertisements inconjunction with a fantasy sports contest.

This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention by providing systems and methods fordisplaying advertisements to a user using a fantasy sports contestapplication. The fantasy sports contest application may be any suitablesoftware, hardware, or both. The fantasy sports contest application maybe provided to the user using an interactive cable television system,using an Internet client/server system, vising a satellite televisionsystem, or using any other suitable system. The advertisements may bedistributed using systems and methods substantially equivalent tosystems and methods used to distribute the fantasy sports contestapplication data. Alternatively, the advertisements may be distributedby any other suitable systems and methods.

The fantasy sports contest application of the present invention may beimplemented on any suitable platform, or on any suitable combination ofplatforms. For example, in an interactive television system, the fantasysports contest application may be implemented using a multichannelset-top box receiver, a television capable of running software programs,a two-way remote control, any other suitable device or any suitablecombination of devices. At least one of the devices used in animplementation is capable of communicating advertisements to the user.

Advertisements may be simultaneously shown in advertisement regions withthe user's fantasy sports contest team roster or along with otherinformation generated by the fantasy sports contest application. Theadvertisements may include text messages, video, animation, staticimages, interactive multimedia content, links for directing users to,for example, an Internet website, any other suitable content, or anycombination thereof.

The fantasy sports contest application may provide any suitable numberof advertisement regions displayed in any suitable locations on adisplay screen. For example, the fantasy sports contest application mayshow an advertisement for a product or service alongside, embeddedwithin, or as a background image of a listing of the user's fantasysports contest team roster or current fantasy sports contest resultssummary screen.

The fantasy sports contest application may be invoked, used, or both byallowing the user to press one or more buttons on a remote control, bymaking a selection from a menu or other presentation of user-selectablechoices, or by other suitable means by which a selection may be made(e.g., a speech recognition command interface). Alternately, the fantasysports contest application may be invoked automatically.

The fantasy sports contest application may schedule advertisements to bedisplayed during a certain event (e.g., pre-game, half-time andpost-game coverage of an athletic contest), within a particular timeperiod of the beginning or end of the event, or both of a televisionsports broadcast being provided in conjunction with a fantasy sportscontest. The fantasy sports contest application may selectadvertisements for each predefined event status in the televisionbroadcast to increase the likelihood of a user response.

The fantasy sports contest application may personalize advertisementsfor the user or a group of users using user profiles. Such a userprofile may include one or more kinds of information on the user such asthe user's demographic data, a history of the user's past usage of thefantasy sports contest application, a history of the user's past usageof other applications (e.g., an electronic programming guide (“EPG”)used to access program schedule information), a history of the user'spast television viewing selections, and any other data available toadvertisers through the use of data mining applications, or through theuse of any other suitable technique (e.g., purchasing user data fromoutside vendors).

The fantasy sports contest application may display to the user localadvertisements of specific local or regional interest to the user at aparticular geographic location. In one suitable approach, the fantasysports contest application may ascertain the geographic location of thenetwork node used by the user to access the fantasy sports contestapplication. The fantasy sports contest application may then displayadvertisements that are of local interest to the user. In anothersuitable approach, a server at each local network node may store a binof local advertisements that may be retrieved for display to the userupon request by user equipment, inserted into a continuous stream ofadvertisements for display to the user, displayed to the user using acombination of these methods, or using any other suitable method.

The fantasy sports contest application may use advertisements as anintegral part of the fantasy sports contest. For example, notificationof the one or more prizes that the user may win in anadvertiser-sponsored fantasy sports contest may be through anadvertisement. For example, the fantasy sports contest application mayallow the user who is among the leaders in a fantasy sports contest toreceive an electronic message, telephone call, or personalizedadvertisement notifying the user to call a certain number, or to selectthe displayed advertisement to claim the prize. To prevent more than oneclaimant for a prize, the fantasy sports contest application may use oneor more personal identification numbers (also known as PINs) orpasswords. For example, once a PIN or password has been used in acontest or promotion, no other claimant would then be able to use thatPIN or password to collect a prize.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an illustrative client/server system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative interactive television system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an illustrative interactive television systemhaving network nodes in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative display screen having a partiallytransparent fantasy sports contest information region and anadvertisement region overlaid on a television sports broadcast inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative display screen having a fantasy sportscontest information region and multiple advertisement regions displayedsimultaneously with a reduced size television sports broadcast inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative display screen having a display baroverlaid on a television sports broadcast, the display bar having afantasy sports contest information region and an advertisement region inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative fantasy sports contest display screenhaving a fantasy sports contest information region and multipleadvertisement regions in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative display screen having a fantasy sportscontest information region and an advertisement region overlaid on atelevision sports broadcast in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative display screen having an advertisementinforming the user of a prize being awarded in the fantasy sportscontest in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative display screen having an advertisementinforming the user of a prize being awarded for scoring in an instantscoring opportunity of the fantasy sports contest in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative display screen that may be accessed byuser selection of an interactive advertisement in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative interactive order form in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative display screen having an advertisementnotifying the user of the prize the user has won in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 shows an illustrative display screen informing a user of a prizehe has won and the prize PIN or prize password being assigned to thatprize in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in usingadvertisements to inform the user of a prize being offered and to enablethe user to collect an awarded prize in accordance with one embodimentof the present, invention;

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative display screen having an advertisementscheduled to be displayed at a time in the television sports broadcastbefore the start of the sports contest in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative display screen having an advertisementscheduled to be displayed at a time in the television sports broadcastduring an intermission of the sports contest in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative display screen having an advertisementscheduled to be displayed at a time in the television sports broadcastafter the end of the sports contest accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in selectingadvertisements for display according to the event status of a televisionsports broadcast provided in conjunction with the fantasy sports contestin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in targetingadvertisements for display using information from a user profile inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of illustrative steps for displaying to the userlocal advertisements of specific interest to the user's geographiclocation in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is primarily described herein in terms of thefantasy sports contest application. It will be understood that any othersuitable software, hardware, or both may be used in conjunction with thefantasy sports contest application or in place of the fantasy sportscontest application to implement some or all of the features of thepresent invention.

The fantasy sports contest application of the present invention may beany suitable software, hardware, or both that may be used to implementthe features of the present invention. The fantasy sports contestapplication may be implemented at any suitable location in the systemdescribed in FIG. 1. For example, the fantasy sports contest applicationmay be implemented at user equipment 110, at server 100, or at any othersuitable location (that is not necessarily shown in FIG. 1), or at anycombination of locations. For example, certain portions of the fantasysports contest application may be implemented at user equipment 110(e.g., those portions that implement features involved in userinteraction), whereas certain other portions of the fantasy sportscontest application may be implemented at server 100 (e.g., thoseportions that implement features involved in the processing of clientrequests and in the tracking of the performance of contestants). Anysuch suitable arrangement of the fantasy sports contest application maybe implemented in accordance with the present invention.

The fantasy sports contest application of the present invention may beused to implement fantasy sports contests that include any suitablesports contest in which the user is given the ability to make decisionsthat may affect the standing of the user in the sports contest. Forexample, in typical team-oriented fantasy sports contests, the user mayparticipate in the capacity of a general manager. In this situation, theuser may be have responsibilities such as creating a team roster (e.g.,drafting players), selecting player positions, selecting reserves,making trades, and otherwise maintaining the composition of the user'steam roster. It will be understood that any other suitabledecision-making capability may be given to the user in a fantasy sportscontest in addition to or in place of those indicated above.

The fantasy sports contest of the present invention need not be limitedor restricted in time. For example, a fantasy sports contest may last anentire season, multiple seasons, a portion of the season, a definiteperiod of time (e.g., one month, two weeks, three days, one hour, etc.),the duration of a particular event (e.g., Wimbledon, etc.), a portion ofa particular event, or any other suitable period of time.

In one suitable approach, fantasy sports contests may include contestsin which the user is not necessarily playing the role of a generalmanager. For example, fantasy sports contests may involve the userdetermining or guessing (i.e., blindly or with calculation) whetherparticular outcomes will occur (e.g., whether a particular golfer willmake the next put). Any such suitable decision-making may be the basisof a fantasy sports contest or a part of a fantasy sports contest.

The fantasy sports contests of the present invention may use anysuitable one or more scoring systems. For example, existing fantasyscoring systems include straight point systems (e.g., points are awardedand subtracted based on real-life plays without regard to theperformance of other players on other fantasy teams in a league),rotisserie systems (e.g., points are awarded based on the user'srelative ranking against other users), head-to-head systems (e.g., usersin a league are matched against one another in a round robin series ofone-on-one contests during the course of a season). There are merelyillustrative scoring systems. Any other suitable scoring system may beused in the fantasy sports contests of the present invention.

It will be understood that the above are merely illustrative elements offantasy sports contests. Any other suitable arrangement or approach maybe used. It will further be understood that the nature of the fantasysports contests may vary depending on which activity or sport isinvolved or based on any other suitable criteria.

The fantasy sports contest application of the present invention mayprovide to the user fantasy sports contest information. Fantasy sportscontest information may include any suitable information associated withone or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates or inwhich the user may have an interest. For example, fantasy sports contestinformation may include information regarding the user's one or morerosters, the user's standing in each of the fantasy sports contests inwhich the user participates, one or more point tallies that the user hasaccumulated in each of the user's respective fantasy sports contests,information regarding the number of trades the user may make,information regarding the amount of fantasy money the user has availableto add players to a roster, information regarding deadlines to maketrades or perform any other suitable task associated with one or morefantasy sports contests, or any other suitable information. Fantasysports contest information may also include information regardingreal-life athletes (e.g., names, statistics, etc.), real-life sportsleagues (e.g., game schedules, standings, etc.), real-life sportingevents (e.g., baseball games, golf tournaments, tennis matches, etc.),sports arenas, weather information, sports commentary, or any othersuitable information regarding real-life sports or events that may havean affect on the one or more fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates.

Aspects of the operation of fantasy sports contest applications aredescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,918,603 (Hughes, et al.). 5,846,132(Junkin), 5,971,854 (Junkin), and 6,193,610 (Junkin), which are allhereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

An illustrative client/server system in accordance with the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 1. The system illustrated in FIG. 1 may beused as a fantasy sports contest system in accordance with the presentinvention. A fantasy sports contest application may be at leastpartially implemented on server 100.

Server 100 may include one or more servers that may be located at asingle location or across two or more locations (e.g., in a distributednetwork arrangement). Server 100 may access one or more databases (e.g.,databases 104, 106, 116, and 126) that may store information related toa fantasy sports contest. Databases 104, 106, and 116 may store fantasysports contest information such as the roster of players available fordrafting, the schedule for the fantasy sports contest, fantasy sportscontest rules, or any other suitable information related to the fantasysports contest. Database 126 may store user profiles on the users of thefantasy sports contest, which may include information for determiningthe users' preferences. Alternatively, user profiles may be storedlocally at user equipment 110. Server 100 may also include a source ofadvertising 102 for providing advertisements and related information.Information from server 100 and source 102 may be transmitted to userequipment 110 via communications network 108. Communication network 108may be a satellite network, a telephone network, an Internet network, acable network, or any other suitable communication network. If it isdesired to transmit video signals over communication network 108, anetwork that enables relatively high bandwidth transmission (e.g., cablenetwork, satellite network) may be desirable.

The fantasy sports contest information transmitted by server 100 to userequipment 110 includes data which is communicated to users as part ofthe fantasy sports contest such as statistical information, rosters,standings, etc. The advertising information transmitted by server 100 touser equipment 110 includes text, graphics, and video advertisements forvarious products and services. If desired, some of the fantasy sportscontest information and advertising information may be provided usingdata sources at facilities other than server 100, which are directlyconnected to user equipment 110 via communications network 108.

For example, data related to tracking user interaction with the fantasysports contest application and other applications may be communicated toa data collection location that is separate from server 100. Similarly,advertising information may be generated by an advertising facility thatis separate from server 100.

Server 100 may distribute the fantasy sports contest application andrelated data as well as advertisements and related data to userequipment 110 via communication network 108.

User equipment 110 at each user's location may include processingequipment 119. Processing equipment 119 may be based on a personalcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), ahandheld computing device, a PC tablet, etc. Processing equipment 119may be used to implement the fantasy sports contest application at theuser's location. Alternately, the fantasy sports contest application maybe partially implemented on server 100 and partially implemented onprocessing equipment 119.

Fantasy sports contest information may be distributed to user equipment110 periodically (e.g., once per hour or once per week). Fantasy sportscontest information may also be distributed continuously or on-demand touser equipment 110. A connection may be established to server 100, andany sources of information independent from server 100 throughcommunications network 108. The fantasy sports contest application mayrequest certain fantasy sports contest information, advertisements, andadvertisement related information to be sent from server 100 andindependent sources. Server 100 may include a processor to handle theseinformation distribution tasks. User processing equipment 119 may alsoinclude a processor to handle tasks associated with implementing afantasy sports contest application, including requesting appropriateinformation from server 100.

Server 100 may include database 126 for storing user profiles of thefantasy sports contest users. A user profile may include any suitableinformation that may help determine the user's preferences and mayinclude information on the user's demographics data, the user'sinteraction history with the fantasy sports contest, application andother interactive applications (e.g., electronic program guideapplication (“EPG”)). Information such as the contents of the user'sfantasy sports contest team roster, the frequency with which the userviews highlight reels of a certain team, the history of past purchasesmade by the user through interactive advertisements in the fantasysports contest application may all be included in the user profile. Inaddition, information on the television viewing habits of the user, theinternet web browsing favorites of the user, and other relatedinformation may also be included in the user profile.

At user equipment 110, display equipment 118 displays fantasy sportscontest information and advertisements. The fantasy sports contestinformation and advertisements may include audio information. Audioequipment 120 may be used to output audio info. Audio equipment mayinclude speakers found in televisions, speakers for personal computers,or any other suitable audio equipment. The user may use input device 112to access information related to the fantasy sports contest. Such inputdevices may include one or more suitable devices such as remotecontrols, keyboards, voice controlled devices, track balls, computermice or any other suitable device.

Certain functions such as the user's instructions to make a change inroster choices and the monitoring of the user's use of the fantasysports contest application may require user equipment 110 to transmitdata to server 100 over communication network 108. If desired, such datamay be transmitted using a communications network separate fromcommunications network 108 used for fantasy sports contest informationand advertising data. If functions such as these are provided usingcommunications networks separate from network 108, some communicationsoriginating from user equipment 110 may be made directly with theseparate networks.

A number of suitable techniques may be used to distribute graphicsinformation for advertisements. For example, graphics information may bedistributed from source 102 in a continuously-looped arrangement, wherethe fantasy sports contest application implemented on user processingequipment 119 may capture appropriate advertisements for display fromthe stream of information being transmitted. With such acontinuously-looped arrangement, a map indicating the location of thelatest graphics information may be downloaded periodically to userequipment 110. This allows any databases used in source 102 for storingadvertisements to be updated, and also allows source 102 to be changed.Graphics information may be downloaded to user equipment 110periodically and stored locally. The graphics information may beaccessed locally when needed by the fantasy sports contest applicationimplemented (at least partially) using processing equipment 119 at theuser's location. Another approach involves using the fantasy sportscontest application to request graphics information when needed.Information on the location of graphics information may be downloaded touser equipment 110, and may be updated as needed. The fantasy sportscontest application implemented (at least partially) using processingequipment 119 may then request and receive appropriate graphicsinformation as needed.

Text information for advertisements may be provided to user equipment110 using paths that are substantially equivalent to the paths used fordistributing fantasy sports contest information. For example, textinformation may be stored locally in processing equipment 119 andupdated periodically. Text information may also be provided by server100 using a continuously-looped arrangement, or on request.

When an advertisement is interactive, the user may select theadvertisement and may, as a result, access (e.g., via communicationpaths 122 or 124) one or more destinations such as an advertiser'sInternet website, an advertiser's product ordering database, etc. Thelocation accessed by the user may be fixed according to informationassociated with the selected advertisement, may be system selected, ormay be a function of some data the user has provided.

In one embodiment, the fantasy sports contest application of the presentinvention may be implemented on an interactive television platform. Anillustrative fantasy sports contest system in accordance with thisembodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. Main facility202 may include a fantasy sports contest database 204 for storingfantasy sports contest information such as the roster of playersavailable for drafting, the schedule for the contest, rules, or anyother suitable fantasy sports contest information. Main facility 202 mayalso include an advertising database 206 for storing advertisementinformation and user profile database 224 for storing user profiles.Information from databases 204, 206, and 224 may be transmitted totelevision distribution facility 208 via communications link 210. Link210 may be a satellite link, a telephone network link, an Internet link,a cable or fiber optic link, a microwave link, a combination of suchlinks, or any other suitable communications link. If it is desired totransmit video signals (e.g., for advertising and promotional videos)over link 210 in addition to data signals, a relatively high bandwidthlink such as a satellite link may be preferable to a relatively lowbandwidth link such as a telephone line.

Television distribution facility 208 is a facility for distributingtelevision signals to users, such as a cable system head end, abroadcast distribution facility, or a satellite television distributionfacility.

The fantasy sports contest information transmitted by main facility 202to television distribution facility 208 includes data which iscommunicated to users as part of the contest such as statisticalinformation, rosters, standings, etc. The advertising informationtransmitted by main facility 202 to television distribution facility 208includes text, graphics, and video advertisements for various productsand services. If desired, some of the contest and advertisinginformation may be provided using data sources at facilities other thanmain facility 202.

For example, data related to tracking player interaction with thefantasy sports contest application and other applications may becommunicated to a data collection location that is separate from mainfacility 202 and separate from television distribution facility 208.Similarly, advertising information may be generated by an advertisingfacility that is separate from main facility 202 and televisiondistribution facility 200.

Regardless of its source, advertising information may be maintained on aserver 212 within television distribution facility 208 if desired.Server 212 may be capable of handling text, graphics, and video. Inaddition, server 212 may be capable of providing interactive servicessuch as handling the ordering of products and services advertised viainteractive advertisements, server 212 may be based on one or morecomputers.

Television distribution facility 208 may distribute fantasy sportscontest information and applications as well as advertising data andapplications to user television equipment 214 or other user equipmentvia communications paths 216. This information may be distributed overan out-of-band channel on paths 216 and may be distributed using any ofa number of suitable techniques. For example, text and graphicsadvertisements may be distributed over an out-of-band channel using anout-of-band modulator. Video advertisements may also be distributed inthis way, although large quantities of video information may be moreefficiently distributed using one or more digital channels on paths 216.Such digital channels may also be used for distributing text andgraphics.

Each user may have a receiver such as set-top box 218 or other suitabletelevision or computer equipment into which circuitry similar to set-topbox circuitry has been integrated. For clarity, the present invention isdescribed primarily in connection with user equipment based on a set-topbox arrangement. This is merely illustrative. The fantasy sports contestmay be implemented using user television equipment 214 that is based ona personal computer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television(PC/TV), or handheld computing device, etc. If desired, the fantasysports contest may be implemented using a client-server architectureusing user television equipment 214 as a client processor and a serversuch as server 212.

Fantasy sports contest information may be distributed to set-top box 218periodically (e.g., once per hour or once per week). Fantasy sportscontest information may also be distributed continuously or on-demand. Aconnection may be established to television distribution facility 208using communication link 210. A request for certain fantasy sportscontest information or advertisement information may be sent fromset-top box 218 to television distribution facility 208. Televisiondistribution facility 208 may respond by sending information responsiveto the request back to set-top box 218 using communications link 216.Main facility 202 may include a processor to handle informationdistribution tasks. Each set-top box 218 may include a processor tohandle tasks associated with implementing a fantasy sports contestapplication on set-top box 218. Television distribution facility 208 mayinclude a processor for tasks associated with monitoring the user'sinteractions with the fantasy sports contest implemented on set top box218 and for handling tasks associated with the distribution ofinformation related to the fantasy sports contest and associatedadvertisements.

During use of the fantasy sports contest application implemented, atleast in part, on set-top box 218, statistical information relating tothe fantasy sports contest may be displayed on display 220. Set-top box218, and display 220, which may be part of a television, may becontrolled by one or more remote controls 222 or any other suitable userinput interfaces such as a wireless keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, adedicated set of buttons, etc.

Communications paths 216 preferably have a sufficient bandwidth to allowtelevision distribution facility 208 to distribute scheduled televisionprogramming, pay programming, advertisements, promotional productvideos, and other video information to set-top box 218 in addition tothe fantasy sports contest application and related data. Multipletelevision and audio channels (analog, digital, or both analog anddigital) may be provided to set-top box 218 via communications paths216. If desired, fantasy sports contest and advertising information maybe distributed by one or more distribution facilities that are similarto, but separate, from television distribution facility 208 usingcommunications paths that are separate from communications paths 216(e.g., using internet paths).

Certain functions such as the user's instructions to make a change inthe user's roster choices may require set-top box 218 to transmit datato television distribution facility 208 over communications paths 216.If desired, such data may be transmitted over telephone lines or otherseparate communications paths. If functions such as these are providedusing facilities separate from television distribution facility 208,some of the communications involving set-top box 218 may be madedirectly with the separate facilities.

A number of suitable techniques may be used to distributeadvertisements. For example, if each path 216 includes a number oftraditional analog television channels, one or more of these channelsmay be used to support a number of digital channels. The bandwidth ofeach analog channel that is used to support digital channels may supportten or more of such digital channels. If desired, advertisement videosmay be provided from server 212 or other suitable equipment attelevision distribution facility 208 in a continuously-loopedarrangement on these digital Channels. Information provided to set-topbox 218 may then be used to determine which digital channels to tune towhen it is time to display a desired video. Alternatively, videos may beprovided on demand. With this approach, set-top box 218 and server 212may negotiate to determine a channel on which to provide the desiredvideo. Videos that originate from main facility 202 or a separatefacility may be distributed to user television equipment 214 using theseor other suitable techniques or a combination of such techniques.

As shown in FIG. 3, the capabilities of server 212 at televisiondistribution, facility 208 may be distributed to servers 300 located atnetwork nodes 302. Servers such as servers 300 may be used instead ofserver 212 or may be used in conjunction with a server 212 located attelevision distribution facility 208.

Graphics information for advertisements may be downloaded periodically(e.g., once per day) to set-top box 218 of FIG. 2 and stored locally.The graphics information may be accessed locally when needed by thefantasy sports contest application implemented (at least partially)using set-top box 218. Alternatively, graphics information may beprovided in a continuously-looped arrangement on one or more digitalchannels on paths 216. With such a continuously-looped arrangement, amap indicating the location of the latest graphics information may bedownloaded periodically to set-top box 218 (e.g., once per day). Thisallows the content on the digital channels to be updated. The fantasysports contest application on set-top box 218 may use the map to locatedesired graphics information on the digital channels. Another approachinvolves using a server such as server 212 or servers 300 (FIG. 3) toprovide the graphics information on request (e.g., after set-top box 218has negotiated with that server to set up a download operation). Abitmap or other suitable set of graphics information may then bedownloaded from the server to set-top box 218. If desired, the servermay provide instructions to set-top box 218 informing set-top box 218where the desired graphics information is located on a particulardigital channel. The graphics information may be updated periodically ifthe server that is responsible for providing the instructions forinforming the set-top box of the location of the graphics information isalso updated periodically.

Text information for advertisements may be provided to set-top box 218using paths that are substantially equivalent to the paths used fordistributing fantasy sports contest information. For example,advertising data from database 206 of FIG. 2 may be provided to set-topbox 218 using link 210, television distribution facility 208, and paths216. The text information may be stored locally in set-top box 218 andupdated periodically (e.g., once per day). Text information may also beprovided by server 212 using a continuously-looped arrangement or onrequest.

A cable modem may be used to distribute texts, graphics, and videos.Text information, graphics information, and videos for advertisementsmay also be distributed using a combination of these techniques or anyother suitable technique.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fantasy sports contest application may provideillustrative display screen 400 having partially transparent fantasysports contest information region 404 and advertisement region 406overlaid on television broadcast 402 shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG.4, fantasy sports contest information region 404 may display fantasysports contest information such as the user's team roster and thefantasy points scored by each player on the team roster. Televisionbroadcast 402 may be a broadcast of a real-life sports contest relatedto the fantasy sports contest, or may be an unrelated televisionbroadcast. For example, fantasy sports contest information region 404may display fantasy football contest information simultaneously with thebroadcast of a real-life football contest.

FIG. 4 shows merely an illustrative arrangement. It will be understoodthat any other suitable arrangement may be used. For example, fantasysports contest information region 404 may be displayed in any suitableform, such as not transparent, more transparent, full-screen, in asmaller portion of the screen, in any suitable shape, as only text(i.e., without background), or in any other suitable form. Advertisementregion 406 may likewise be displayed in any suitable form. In onesuitable arrangement broadcast 402 may be reduced such that broadcast402 may be viewed substantially unobscured simultaneously with fantasysports contest information region 404 and advertisement region 406.

For example, in another suitable arrangement, the fantasy sports contestapplication may provide a display screen as illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG.5 shows display screen 500 having a fantasy sports contest informationregion 504 displaying point standings of the user's field ofcompetition. Fantasy sports contest information region 504 may bedisplayed as an opaque region. Multiple advertisement regions 506 may bedisplayed to provide multiple advertising opportunities on a singledisplay screen. As shown, advertisement, regions 506 are opaque. Ifdesired, one or more of advertisement regions may be semi-transparent,or in any other suitable form. If desired, each of advertisement regions506 may be displayed in a different form from the others.

In one suitable arrangement, the fantasy sports contest application maydisplay multiple fantasy sports contest information regions andadvertisement regions throughout a display. For example, one or morefantasy sports contest information regions may be used to displayinformation related to rosters, whereas one or more other fantasy sportscontest information regions may be used to display information relatedto fantasy sports contest league standings, or any other suitableinformation.

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative display screen 600 where fantasy sportscontest information is displayed in fantasy sports contest informationregion 604 as an overlay over related television broadcast 602 andadvertisements are displayed in advertisement region 606 as an overlayover related television broadcast 602. Regions 604 and 606 may be in theform of windows. For example, if the fantasy sports contest applicationis being accessed from personal computer based user equipment, then oneor more regions may be displayed in the form of windows such as inMicrosoft™ Windows or Apple™ OS display environments. For example, ifwindows, regions 604 and 606 may be minimized, moved, resized, closed,or otherwise manipulated in any suitable way using, for example,selectable elements 608 and 610. In the case of advertisement regions,the fantasy sports contest application may prohibit the user fromremoving or minimizing advertisement regions.

It will be understood that a window arrangement may be used in atelevision based user equipment arrangement as well. In this case, theuser preferably may use a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball,touch-pad, or any other suitable pointing device to move a pointer orany other suitable navigation tool on the display screen to manipulatethe windows and perform any other suitable function typically performedusing a pointing device.

In one suitable arrangement, fantasy sports contest information regions604 and advertisement regions 606 may be displayed over broadcast 602for a preset period of time when a preset condition is met, such as whenthe fantasy sports contest information to be displayed in region 604 isupdated, or when the user wins a prize in the fantasy sports contest. Inanother suitable arrangement, fantasy sports contest information regions604 and advertisement regions 606 may each be displayed on a presetschedule and for a preset period of time at each scheduled display.

In general, each display screen in accordance with the present inventionmay have more than one advertisement region, more than one fantasysports contest information region, and optionally the display of afantasy sports contest related television broadcast, or any othersuitable information. Advertisement regions and fantasy sports contestinformation regions may be semi-transparent overlays, opaque overlaysobscuring a portion of the television display screen, displays in areduced screen format that allows the entire content of the televisiondisplay to be viewed in a reduced screen, or any other suitablealternative display.

The fantasy sports contest application may allow any or alladvertisement regions to be selectable. The user may select anadvertisement region using any suitable technique. For example, as shownin FIG. 5, highlight region 510 may be used in conjunction with userequipment, such as a remote control, to select a particularadvertisement region 506.

In one suitable approach, the fantasy sports contest application mayprovide advertisements having selectable content within theadvertisements themselves. in this situation, the fantasy sports contestapplication may allow the user to navigate a highlight region (e.g.,highlight region 510) to both the advertisement region in which theadvertisement is displayed and then to the selectable elements of theadvertisement, or only to the selectable elements of the advertisement(i.e., not allowing the advertisement region as a whole to be selected).Any such suitable selection technique may be used.

In one suitable approach, the fantasy sports contest application mayprovide fantasy sports contest information and advertisements in a flipand browse arrangement. Flip and browse is discussed in Bennington et.al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,556, which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety. FIG. 7 shows a display screen 700 with flip andbrowse type display bar 720 having television channel indicator 712,fantasy sports contest information region 704, and advertisement region706. Display bar 720 may be overlaid on related television sportsbroadcast 702. Fantasy sports contest information region 704 may displayfantasy sports contest information such as the current scoring totalsfor a fantasy sports contest involving the user's team. Highlight region710 may also be provided to enable the user to highlight a particulardisplay region such as advertisement region 706.

In one suitable arrangement, the fantasy sports contest application neednot display fantasy sports contest information and advertisementssimultaneously with a television broadcast. FIG. 8 shows an illustrativedisplay screen 800 in which fantasy sports contest information is notdisplayed in conjunction with a television broadcast. As shown in FIG.8, fantasy sports contest information region 804 displays information onthe individual points leaders in a fantasy sports contest. Multipleadvertisement regions 802 are featured on the periphery of display 800.Highlight region 810 may be provided to enable the user to highlight aparticular display region such as a particular advertisement region 802.

It will be understood that display screen 800 is merely illustrative.Any other suitable arrangement may be used in a full-screen display offantasy sports contest information and advertisements. For example,advertisement regions 802 may overlay fantasy sports contest informationregion 804 or may be arranged with fantasy sports contest informationregion 804 such that all information may be viewed unobscured.

FIGS. 4-8 are merely illustrative display screens that show variouspossible arrangements of television broadcasts, fantasy sports contestinformation regions, and advertisements. These arrangement may bemodified in any suitable way. Any other suitable arrangement may be usedin place of those illustrated. It will be understood that features ofthe present invention having to do with a display of information oroptions to the user may be used based on any of these or otherarrangements.

In one embodiment of the present invention, advertisements displayed bythe fantasy sports contest application may be used to inform the user ofparticular prizes being offered for particular achievements in thefantasy sports contest, and to enable the user to collect the awardedprize.

In one example illustrated by FIG. 9, the fantasy sports contestapplication informs the user of a prize (e.g., 32″ TV) being awarded bya sponsor (e.g., Bestboy.com) for a certain achievement (e.g., topscorer) using an advertisement displayed in advertisement region 906.Fantasy sports contest information region 904 may cooperate with theAdvertisement displayed in advertisement region 906 by displayingfantasy sports contest information that informs the user of theachievement necessary for winning the prize described in theadvertisement. In one suitable arrangement, information on prizerequirements (e.g., top 10% of scorers) may be provided by advertisingdatabase 206 to the fantasy sports contest application, which mayrequest appropriate fantasy sports contest information from sportscontest database 204 for display to the user.

In one suitable arrangement, the fantasy sports contest application mayuse advertisements in conjunction with a real-time fantasy sportscontest to inform users of prizes being awarded for instant performancein the real-time fantasy sports contest. In a real-time fantasy sportscontest, instant scoring opportunities may be generated based on thereal-time events displayed in a television sports broadcast. Forexample, the fantasy sports contest application may cause the user to beprompted to predict the outcome of a real-time situation occurring in asports contest being currently broadcast to the user. The user may beawarded points in the fantasy sports contest for a correct prediction,or deducted points for an incorrect prediction.

In accordance with the present invention, advertisements displayedsimultaneously with the broadcast of a sport contest (e.g., a sportscontest being used by the fantasy sports contest application to generatescoring opportunities) may continuously entice the user by continuouslyinforming the user of prizes being awarded for performance in instantscoring opportunities.

In one example illustrated by FIG. 10, display screen 1000 includestelevision broadcast 1002 of a sports contest, fantasy sports contestinformation region 1004, and advertisement region 1006. Fantasy sportscontest information region 1004 may display information prompting theuser to predict the outcome of a real-time situation occurring inbroadcast 1002. specifically in the illustrated situation, whether aparticular player will convert on a field goal. Fantasy sports contestinformation region 1004 may also enable the user to make the user'sprediction of the real-time situation by selecting one of elements 1012.Advertisement region 1006 may cooperate with the fantasy sports contestby displaying an advertisement that informs the user of an instant prizebeing awarded for scoring in the instant scoring opportunity displayedin fantasy sports contest information region 1004.

In one suitable arrangement, advertisements that award instant prizesmay be stored in advertising database 206 and may be selected by thefantasy sports contest application for display to the user using a pointvalue system. For example, each scoring opportunity and eachadvertisement offering a prize may be assigned a point value bydifficulty of the opportunity and value of the prize, respectively.Scoring opportunities may be matched with advertisements assignedsimilar point values. Alternately, advertisements offering instantprizes may be selected using other suitable criteria. Usingadvertisements in the fantasy sports contest application to inform theuser of an instant reward for performing in the fantasy sports contestmay attract more attention to the advertisement, the fantasy sportscontest, and the related television broadcast.

The advertisements displayed in advertisement regions may be interactiveand may lead the user to information screens having further informationon an item, an interactive order form, or an advertiser's Internet website. The user may select a particular advertisement for interaction byhighlighting and selecting the advertisement region in which theadvertisement is being displayed. For example, when the user selects aninteractive advertisement (e.g., by selecting advertisement region 506of FIG. 5 using highlight region 510 and remote control 222) for PizzaBrothers, information screen 1100 of FIG. 11 may be displayed includingmenu items available from Pizza Brothers. Display screen 1100 mayinclude video button 1108 that provides access to a multimedia productpresentation featuring a Pizza Brothers video advertisement. Aninteractive advertisement may also enable the user to purchase an itembeing advertised.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, user selection of an interactive PizzaBrothers advertisement (e.g., by selecting advertisement region 506 ofFIG. 5) may lead to order form 1200 having order buttons 1210 next toeach menu item, and information boxes 1220 for entering the user'spurchasing information. Alternately, user selection of an interactiveadvertisement may lead the user to the sponsor's website, which may becapable of processing product orders.

In one suitable approach, interactive advertisements may be used toinform the user when the user has won a prize in the fantasy sportscontest. The interactive advertisement may also enable the user toinstantly collect the awarded prize. As illustrated in FIG. 13, when theuser wins a prize in the fantasy-sports contest, the fantasy sportscontest application may display a prize advertisement in advertisementregion 1306 informing the user of the nature of the prize won and theadvertiser awarding that prize. User selection of the prizeadvertisement may cause the fantasy sports contest application todisplay an interactive order form similar to that shown in FIG. 12, inwhich the appropriate order and payment have been prearranged. The usermay only be required to enter vital information to collect the prize.For example, the fantasy sports contest application may query sportscontest database 204 for a list of users qualifying for the prize. Thelist of qualifying users may be used to generate, in cooperation withadvertisements pulled from advertising database 206. prizeadvertisements to be displayed to the qualifying users. Informationidentifying the prize and the user may be transmitted to set-top box 218for display. The identifying information may then be used to fill in aninteractive order form stored in advertising database 206 andtransmitted to set-top box 218. Alternately, the fantasy sports systemmay also transmit to set-top box 218 vital information previouslyprovided by the user, so that the user may only be required to confirmvital information. Alternately, order form 1200 may be substituted witha sponsor's web site featuring product ordering capabilities.

In another suitable approach, user selection of the prize advertisementmay lead to information screen 1400 of FIG. 14, which may assign theuser unique prize PIN or prize password 1450 to be used when claimingthe prize. Screen 1400 may include link 1460 to order form 1200 (FIG.12), and prize PIN or prize password 1450 may be used in PromotionalCode box 1230 of order form 1200 to simplify the prize claiming processby identifying both the user and the prize. In one suitable arrangement,a package of information sent to user equipment 214 for the purpose ofnotifying the user of winning a prize may include a PIN or password. Acopy of this information package may be sent to an advertiser's databaseseparate from databases 204, 206, 212, and 224. When the user enters thePIN or password, the PIN or password may be transmitted to theadvertiser's database, and may be used to identify the user and matchthe user with the prize.

In another suitable approach, illustrated by FIG. 8, the fantasy sportsapplication notifies the user of a prize award by display icons 806 indisplay screen 800. To find out the prize, the fantasy sportsapplication may allow the user to select the icon or press a button onan input device that matches the display icon 806 (e.g., a remotecontrol that has “*” button). Selection of icon 806 may lead toinformation screen 1400 (FIG. 14) or order form 1200 (FIG. 12) thatenables the user to claim the prize. Similarly, icons 806 may be used ina fantasy sports contest information region (e.g., region 504 of FIG. 5)to indicate that the user has won a prize in the contest. Alternately,an audio alert may accompany any of the visual methods of prizenotification described above.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of Illustrative steps involved in usingadvertisements to inform the user of a prize being offered and to enablethe user to collect an awarded prize. Functionality of interactiveadvertisements is also illustrated in FIG. 15. At step 1502 the fantasysports contest application is invoked. For example, the user may press abutton on remote control 222 to invoke the fantasy sports contestapplication, or the fantasy sports contest application may be invokedautomatically when the user tunes to a television broadcast related tofantasy sports contests.

At step 1504 (which may occur either substantially immediately afterstep 1502 or after one ox more other steps), the fantasy sports contestapplication may display to the user an interactive advertisementinforming the user of a prize being offered in the fantasy sportscontest. The advertisement is displayed to the user along with a fantasysports contest information region displaying corresponding fantasysports contest information related to the achievement required to winthe prize. For example, the fantasy sports contest application maydisplay advertisements of prizes based on a preset schedule, and theappropriate advertisements may be transmitted to set-top box 218 andstored for display according to the schedule or according to any othersuitable technique for acquiring advertisement as discussed previouslywith regard to FIGS. 1-3. Corresponding fantasy sports contestinformation on the achievement required to win the prize may betransmitted on demand from server 212 to set-top box 218 as the fantasysports contest develops or using any other suitable technique.

At step 1514, if the user qualifies for or wins a prize in the fantasysports contest the fantasy sports contest application displays anadvertisement notifying the user that a prize has been won at step 1516.User selection of the advertisement at step 1518 results in the fantasysports contest application enabling the user to claim the prize at step1520. For example, the fantasy sports contest application may display tothe user an interactive order form such as that of FIG. 12, or may allowthe user to access another location such as an advertiser's Internetwebsite. Alternately, the fantasy sports contest application may enablethe user to access those locations through an intermediary screen suchas that of FIG. 14 assigning the user a prize PIN or prize password.

If the user does not qualify for or win a prize at step 1514, userselection of the interactive advertisement at step 1506 may cause thefantasy sports contest application to display to the user a furtherinformation screen such as that of FIG. 11, enable the user to access anorder form for purchasing the advertised item such as that of FIG. 12,or may enable the user to access another location (e.g., a sponsor'sInternet website) at step 1508. For example, an information screen suchas the one illustrated in FIG. 11 may be displayed to the user upon userselection of an interactive advertisement. This information screen mayprovide the user with links to an order screen or to anotherdestination, and may be transmitted using methods substantiallyequivalent to the methods used to transmit advertisements.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the fantasy sports contestapplication may schedule particular advertisements to be displayedduring or around particular events of a television broadcast related tothe fantasy sports contest. For example, a television broadcast of asports contest that has an impact on the outcome of the fantasy sportscontest. Advertisements may be selectively scheduled, taking intoconsideration the nature of the advertisement and the item beingpromoted, to better take advantage of user purchasing habits associatedwith certain events in a television broadcast of a sports contest.Particular advertisements may be selectively scheduled for display at aparticular time or particular times in relation to the status of thesports contest being broadcast (e.g., right before the contest, athalf-time, or some time after a contest).

For example, ordering food and beverages for consumption in connectionwith watching a television sports broadcast is a common occurrence. Asillustrated by FIG. 16, this particular user purchasing habit may bebetter served by displaying advertisements for food delivery at thebeginning of a sports broadcast (e.g., during the pre-game show), whichmay result in an increase in the number of users who will respond to theadvertised offer. FIG. 16 shows display screen 1600 having fantasysports contest information region 1604, advertisement region 1606, andtelevision broadcast 1602 of a pre-game show (e.g., a preview segmentgenerally broadcast before the start of a sports contest). Fantasysports contest information region 1604 may display information andselectable elements that enable the user to perform actions in thefantasy sports contest before the real life contest begins. For example,the user may use the time before the start of the real-life contest todecide which real-life players to include on the user's fantasy sportsteam roster. During the pregame show, as illustrated in FIG. 16, thefantasy sports contest application has selected for display inadvertisement region 1606 an advertisement promoting an item that takesadvantage of the user's pre-game purchasing habit (e.g., ordering pizzabefore the start of a sports broadcast).

In another suitable approach illustrated by FIG. 17, the fantasy sportscontest application displays in advertisement region 1706 an interactiveadvertisement that entices the user to explore a web site during theintermission period of a sports contest (e.g., during the half-timeshow). By scheduling an advertisement that requires a large timeinvestment for the intermission period, the sponsor may be able toattract more interest in the advertisement than if the advertisement hadbeen scheduled during the body of the sports broadcast.

In another suitable approach illustrated by FIG. 18, advertisementregion 1806 may display an advertisement, based on the outcome of thesports contest being broadcast. For example, the fantasy sports contestapplication may display in region 1806 an advertisement for the winningsports team's merchandise immediately after the end of the sportscontest to take advantage of fan enthusiasm following a sports team'svictory. All of the foregoing examples illustrate how advertisements maybe intelligently scheduled for display at certain times of a televisionbroadcast of a sports contest related to the fantasy sports contest totake advantage of user purchasing habits. User purchasing habits may bedetermined using a history of past purchases the user has made using thefantasy sports contest application, and the time relative to a sportscontest broadcast the purchases were made. Alternately, user purchasinghabits may be determined using data on one more than one user. Datawhich may be collected from user interactions with the fantasy sportscontest application, with other interactive applications (which may notbe implemented using the same system as the fantasy sports contestapplication), purchased or otherwise obtained from a third party, orobtained using any other suitable sources or methods.

In one suitable arrangement, advertisements may be transmitted from atelevision distribution facility 208 to set-top box 218 according to apreset schedule, transmitted from television distribution facility 208as an entire package and displayed by set-top box 218 using a presetschedule, or may be transmitted from television distribution facility208 when requested by set-top box 218. Set-top box 218 may be programmedto take certain actions based on the occurrence of certain events in thetelevision sports broadcast or programmed to take actions according to apreset schedule. For example, the vertical blanking interval (“VBI”) ofthe television broadcast signal may provide the fantasy sports contestapplication with information about the event status of the currentsports contest (e.g., before the game, during the game, in commercial,after the game, etc.). In one suitable arrangement, advertisements maybe categorized for each event status in advertising database 206. Forexample, advertisements requiring a large time commitment may becategorized as appropriate for intermissions in the sports contest, andadvertisements that promote food delivery may be categorized asappropriate for before the start of the sports contest. Televisiondistribution facility 208 or set-top box 218 may process the eventstatus information included in the broadcast signal and accordinglytransmit, or request, respectively, the advertisements categorized asappropriate for each predefined event status.

FIG. 19 shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in onesuitable way in determining when to display particular advertisementsusing the fantasy sports contest application. At step 1902 the fantasysports contest application is invoked. The fantasy sports contestapplication determines the event status of the television broadcastbeing displayed to the user at step 1904. For example, set-top box 218reads event status information included in the vertical blankinginterval of the television broadcast signal being transmitted fromtelevision distribution facility 208.

At step 1906, the fantasy sports contest application requestsadvertisements categorized as appropriate for the particular eventstatus. For example, set-top box 218 may request that a package ofadvertisements deemed appropriate for the determined event status betransmitted from server 212. The fantasy sports contest application thendisplays the appropriate advertisements to the user at step 1908. In aniterative process, the fantasy sports contest application continuouslydetermines event status for the purpose of displaying the appropriateadvertisements for the appropriate event status.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the fantasy sports contestapplication may target advertisements toward a particular user or groupof users using user profiles. A user profile may include any suitableinformation that may help determine the user's preferences and mayinclude information on the user's demographics data, the user'sinteraction history with the fantasy sports contest application andother interactive applications, the contents of the user's fantasysports contest team roster, the frequency with which the user viewshighlight reels of certain players or teams, the user's history of pastpurchases, the television viewing habits of the user, the user's historyof Internet web browsing, psychographic information, and any othersuitable user information.

For example, the user profile may include information on the user'sfantasy sports contest team roster. Such information may show that theuser has a tendency to choose players from one real-life team more oftenthan any others for the user's fantasy sports contest team roster. Thefantasy sports contest application may use this information from theuser profile to target particular advertisements for display to thatparticular user promoting that particular real-life team's merchandise,or that particular real-life team's televised contests.

The user profile may include information accumulated from monitoring theuser's interaction with the fantasy sports contest application. Forexample, information such as the frequency with which the user views aparticular player's statistics, or the frequency with which the userviews a player's or team's highlights, may be collected in the userprofile. Information on merchandise purchased through advertisements inthe fantasy sports contest application may also be collected in the userprofile.

The user profile may be stored in any suitable location in the system ofFIG. 1 or FIG. 2. For example, set-top box 218 may include a processorfor monitoring the user's interaction with the fantasy sports contestapplication, and may send appropriate data on the user for storage inuser profile database 224 at main facility 202. Using the user profileinformation collected from the user's interaction with the fantasysports contest application, server 212 may request a package ofadvertisements for transmission to set top box 218 that takes intoaccount the user's demonstrated preferences. In another suitablearrangement, user profile information may be collected and storedlocally (i.e., at the user equipment). In this arrangement, the fantasysports contest application may be at least partially implemented at theuser equipment and may choose stored advertisements to display (orrequest suitable advertisements from the appropriate remote source).

The user profile may include information collected by the fantasy sportscontest on the user's interaction with other interactive applications(e.g., electronic program guide application, Internet applications),whether or not these applications are implemented using the same systemas the fantasy sports contest application. For example, the user profilemay include a history of user purchases of pay-per-view sports programs,similarly, a history of products and services purchased through aninteractive application (e.g., e-commerce transactions via a Webbrowser) may be included in the user profile.

Certain advertisements may also be selected for one or more users basedon information in the user profile on the user's past, televisionviewing habits. For example, the user that tends to watch proportionallymore basketball games than golf contests may be targeted to see arelatively greater number of promotions for real-life and fantasy sportscontest basketball than the average user, who might see a proportionallygreater number of advertisements for golf theme promotions. Moredetailed information, such as frequency with which the user watchesgames featuring certain teams may also be collected for the userprofile. For example, television programs may be categorized intosuitable groups. Data on the television program being viewed by the usermay be continuously transmitted by the set-top box 218 to server 212 andstored in the user profile on database 224. This data may be sorted toproduce information on the user's television viewing preferences, whichmay be used by the fantasy sports contest application to selectadvertisements for display to the user.

Information on the user's Internet web browsing habits (e.g., browsingfavorites, or browsing history), voluntary survey responses, and anyother suitable information on the user may be included in the userprofile and used to select advertisements for display to the user.

The source of information included in the user profile and used totarget advertisements to users is not limited to what is described here.Information included in the user profile may be purchased, or otherwiseobtained, from third party vendors who collect information aboutindividuals in marketing databases.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in using a userprofile in selecting advertisement to display using the fantasy sportscontest application. At step 2002 the fantasy sports contest applicationis invoked. The fantasy sports contest application determines the user'sdemonstrated preferences using information stored in the user profile atstep 2004. For example, the fantasy sports contest application maysearch the user profile stored in database 224 for information on theuser's fantasy sports contest team roster, information collected frommonitoring the user's interaction with the fantasy sports contestapplication (e.g., frequency the user views highlights of a particularplayer or team), information collected from monitoring the user'sinteraction with other interactive applications (regardless of whetherthese other applications are implemented by the same system),information collected from monitoring the user's television viewinghabits, information from collected from the user's Internet browsinghistory, information collected from the user's history of productpurchases, information on the user purchased or otherwise obtained froman outside vendor, or any other suitable information that lends insighton the user's preferences.

At step 2006, the fantasy sports contest application selectsadvertisements matching the user's preferences for display to the user.The fantasy sports contest application then transmits the selectedadvertisements to the user equipment (e.g., set-top box 218) for displayto the user at step 2008.

In one embodiment, the fantasy sports contest application may display tothe user local advertisements specifically targeted for the user'sgeographic location. In one suitable approach, in an interactivetelevision implementation, the fantasy sports contest application maydetect the network node (e.g., a local cable system headend) from whichthe user accesses the fantasy sports contest application. The fantasysports contest application may use this network node information toIdentify the user's geographic location .and to select a package ofgeographically targeted advertisements from advertising database 206 fortransmission to set-top box 218. The package of local advertisements maybe stored at set-top box 218 and updated from database 206 as needed.Alternatively, set-top box 218 may request local advertisements fromadvertising database 206 as needed for display to the user.Alternatively, the local advertisements may be streamed to the user inreal-time or in quasi-real time feeds.

In another suitable approach involving distributed network nodes, server300 at network node 302 may include a bin of local advertisements.Network node 302 at a particular geographic location may be part of alocal cable system, which may provide the bin of local advertisementsfrom local advertisers. In one suitable arrangement, set-top box 218 mayrequest local advertisements from server 300 as needed for display tothe user. In another suitable arrangement, set-top box 218 may downloadthe entire bin of local advertisements from server 300 for storage atthe user's location. In another suitable arrangement, the localadvertisements may be automatically fed for display to the user and mayreplace advertisements that are indicated to be preemptable by localadvertisements. Server 300 may update the bin of local advertisementsstored on set-top box 218 by negotiating additional download operationsusing any suitable method. In another suitable arrangement, server 300may insert local advertisements into a continuous stream ofadvertisements being transmitted from television distribution facility208 to set-top box 218 using, for example, one or more digitaltelevision channels.

In one suitable approach, the headend apparatus may be programmed tomake use of information already collected by the fantasy sports contestapplication of the present invention. The headend could then useinformation to personalize the local advertisements displayed to theuser.

In another suitable approach, information on the user's geographiclocation may be included in the user profile on user profile database224. The fantasy sports contest application may use geographic locationinformation included in the user profile to select an appropriatepackage of local advertisements for display to the user. The fantasysports contest application may directly transmit the localadvertisements to set-top box 218 for display to the user, may transmitthe local advertisements to set-top box 218 for local storage anddisplay, or may transmit the local advertisements to server 300 fordistribution to set-top box 218.

In one suitable arrangement, the fantasy sports contest application maydisplay local advertisements to the user according to a preset schedulefor displaying advertisements. The preset schedule for displayingadvertisements may include scheduled slots set aside for the display oflocal advertisements, when the schedule calls for a local advertisementto be displayed to the user, the fantasy sports contest application mayload a local advertisement for display to the user that is stored atuser equipment 214, at server 212/300, at database 206, or any othersuitable location. Alternately, the fantasy sports contest applicationmay load a local advertisement for display to the user that is beingtransmitted to the user using a continuous stream of advertisements onone or more dedicated television channels, or any other suitable methodof transmission.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providing theuser with local advertisements of specific interest to the user'sgeographic location. At step 2102 the fantasy sports contest applicationis invoked. At step 2104 the fantasy sports contest applicationdetermines the user's geographic location. The fantasy sports contestapplication can be provided geographic information by a network node(e.g., a local cable system headend) used by the user to access thefantasy sports contest application. Using the geographic information, atstep 2106 the fantasy sports contest application can choose a package ofadvertisements of local interest to the user's geographic location fortransmission to the user equipment (e.g., set-top box 218) for displayat step 2108.

If desired, the fantasy sports contest application may be implemented asan on-line application hosted by a server connected to the Internet. Theon-line fantasy sports contest may be displayed using a web browser on apersonal computer, a web-enabled set-top box, a Web TV box, a personalcomputer television (PC/TV), a PC tablet, a personal organizer, or othersuitable user equipment with suitable Internet access capabilities. Withsuch an arrangement, fantasy sports contest application data andadvertisement data may be stored remotely on a server that the user ofthe on-line fantasy sports contest may access through an internetconnection and may download the data locally. In the implementation ofsuch a system, server 100 of FIG. 1 may be replaced by the host serverof an Internet website and user equipment 110 can be replaced by apersonal computer or other suitable end use computing device.

Thus, systems and methods for fantasy sports contest applications withenhanced advertising capabilities are provided. One skilled in the artwill appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by otherthan the described embodiments, which are presented for purposes ofillustration and not of limitation, and the present invention is limitedonly by the claims which follow.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A method for selecting times to presentadvertisements during a sporting event, the method comprising:determining an identity of a user accessing a display device;determining a sporting event is generated for display on the displaydevice; in response to determining that the sporting event is generatedfor display, accessing a database on timings of past purchases made by auser relative to past sporting events; retrieving information of thetimings of past purchases made by a user relative to past sportingevents; determining, using the information, a time during the pastsporting events when the user made the most past purchases; in responseto determining the time during the past sporting events when the usermade the most past purchases, determining a corresponding time duringthe sporting event to present an advertisement; and generating fordisplay an advertisement during the sporting event at the determinedtime.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the advertisement isassociated with a real-life team comprising an athlete on a roster of afantasy sports team maintained by the user.
 21. The method of claim 20,wherein the advertisement comprises advertisements for the real-lifeteam's televised contest or the real-life team's merchandise.
 22. Themethod of claim 20 further comprising instructing the display screen tosimultaneously display roster of the fantasy sports team with theadvertisement.
 23. The method of claim 20 further comprising instructingthe display the advertisement as a background image for a listing of theroster of the fantasy sports team or as a background image for a currentfantasy sports contest results summary.
 24. The method of claim 20further comprising receiving user instructions to make a change to theroster of the fantasy sports team maintained by the user.
 25. The methodof claim 19 further comprising instructing the display screen tosimultaneously display fantasy sports contest information with theadvertisement.
 26. A non-transitory computer readable medium encodedwith machine-readable instructions for providing advertisements on adisplay screen to a user of a fantasy sports contest application, themachine-readable instructions comprising: determining an identity of auser accessing a display device; determining a sporting event isgenerated for display on the display device; in response to determiningthat the sporting event is generated for display, accessing a databaseon timings of past purchases made by a user relative to past sportingevents; retrieving information of the timings of past purchases made bya user relative to past sporting events; determining, using theinformation, a time during the past sporting events when the user madethe most past purchases; in response to determining the time during thepast sporting events when the user made the most past purchases,determining a corresponding time during the sporting event to present anadvertisement; and generating for display an advertisement during thesporting event at the determined time.
 27. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 26, wherein the advertisement is associatedwith a real-life team comprising an athlete on a roster of a fantasysports team maintained by the user.
 28. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 27, wherein the advertisement comprisesadvertisements for the real-life team's televised contest or thereal-life team's merchandise.
 29. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 27 further comprising instructions for instructing thedisplay screen to simultaneously display roster of the fantasy sportsteam with the advertisement.
 30. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 27 further comprising instructions for instructing thedisplay the advertisement as a background image for a listing of theroster of the fantasy sports team or as a background image for a currentfantasy sports contest results summary.
 31. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 27 further comprising instructions forreceiving user instructions to make a change to the roster of thefantasy sports team maintained by the user.
 32. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 26 further comprising instructions forinstructing the display screen to simultaneously display fantasy sportscontest information with the advertisement.
 33. A system for selectingtimes to present advertisements during a sporting event, the systemcomprising: storage circuitry configured to store a database on timingsof past purchases made by a user relative to past sporting events; andprocessing circuitry configured to: determine an identity of a useraccessing a display device; determine a sporting event is generated fordisplay on the display device; in response to determining that thesporting event is generated for display, access a database on timings ofpast purchases made by a user relative to past sporting events; retrieveinformation of the timings of past purchases made by a user relative topast sporting events; determine, using the information, a time duringthe past sporting events when the user made the most past purchases; inresponse to determine the time during the past sporting events when theuser made the most past purchases, determining a corresponding timeduring the sporting event to present an advertisement; and generate fordisplay an advertisement during the sporting event at the determinedtime.
 34. The system of claim 33, wherein the advertisement isassociated with a real-life team comprising an athlete on a roster of afantasy sports team maintained by the user.
 35. The system of claim 34,wherein the advertisement comprises advertisements for the real-lifeteam's televised contest or the real-life team's merchandise.
 36. Thesystem of claim 34, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to instruct the display screen to simultaneously displayroster of the fantasy sports team with the advertisement.
 37. The systemof claim 34, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured toinstruct the display the advertisement as a background image for alisting of the roster of the fantasy sports team or as a backgroundimage for a current fantasy sports contest results summary.
 38. Thesystem of claim 34, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured receive user instructions to make a change to the roster ofthe fantasy sports team maintained by the user.